The present invention relates to an assembly system in which a large number of component parts are located in separate containers or bins which are individually and selectively brought to a central location where the parts are extracted from the bins and assembled. Although the invention has utility in the manufacture of various products it will be described with reference to the manufacture of printed circuit boards.
In the fabrication of printed circuit boards, an operator may sit at a console that mounts one or more circuit boards, and circuit elements located in a containers or bins that are conveniently located near the operator. The bins of components may be arranged on a rack of shelves in columns and rows and individual bins brought to a fixed position in a programmed manner where the parts are individually taken from their bins and placed in the appropriate location on the P.C. board by the operator.
A mechanism will bring a bin of components to the assembly location where one or more parts are taken from the bin by the operator and mounted on the P.C. board. Then the operator may activate a switch and the mechanism will remove the component bin and bring another bin into the assembly location. During the time that the prior bin is removed and returned to its home position and the subsequent bin taken from its normal position to the assembly position a considerable amount of time may elapse which constitutes wasted assembly time.
The invention disclosed in the parent application is directed to reducing this wasted assembly time. Accordingly, it discloses a system in which there is a ready position located adjacent to the assembly position and after a component is taken from the bin assembly position a switch is actuated that causes the bin to be removed from the assembly position and an adjacent bin that had been brought to a ready position is then brought into the assembly location. This mechanism of the parent application serves to considerably reduce wasted assembly time. However, it still requires that the bin in the assembly position be withdrawn before the one in the ready position can be brought into the assembly position. The present invention is an improvement on the system disclosed in the parent application in that it eliminates the interval of time during which the bin in the assembly position is withdrawn.
Thus the present invention is designed to minimize the time delay between successive bins of parts being brought to the assembly position where the operator withdraws components from successive bins.
Accordingly, it is the object of the present invention to provide a system for more efficiently and quickly moving bins of components to be assembled to and from a fixed assembly location.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a printed circuit board assembly system in which the circuit elements are located in individual bins which are efficiently and quickly brought to an assembly position for mounting on a circuit board.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a system for fabricating printed circuit boards in which circuit elements are located in containers or bins arranged in rows and columns and in which the individually selected parts bins are brought to an assembly location with minimum delay.
A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a printed circuit board assembly system in which a rack of circuit board parts bins are brought to an assembly location with minimum delay and in which there are two ready positions for the parts bins located in close proximity to the assembly position.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description considered with the drawings.